In an essay for Law & Liberty, JWI Affiliated Scholar and Catholic University of America Professor of Ethics and Social Philosophy Michael Pakaluk critiques John Rawls' political philosophy and the legacy of A Theory of Justice. Pakaluk explores how Rawls actively spurned the concept of natural rights in his work. His political position, therefore, is incompatible with the American tradition, and "makes no appeal" to objective truth. Ultimately, Pakaluk concludes that much of our current social dysfunction can be directly attributed to Rawls' influence.

Some excerpts from the piece:

"There are two necessary tasks in political philosophy for a liberal regime. The first is to articulate what one might wish to call, 'fair terms of cooperation among persons regarded as free and equal.' ... the second is to say which beings are rightly regarded as free and equal persons."

"John Rawls in Theory of Justice agreed that political philosophy must engage in both of these tasks. However, by Political Liberalism he had rejected the second task. That is why his political philosophy is not only not continuous with the public philosophy of the Founders, as David Schaeffer has so ably argued, but actually subversive of the American project, contrary to the suggestions of David Corey."

"What is Rawls’ legacy? What is the condition of a society which, following his lead, rejects truth as a criterion? Perhaps: a society divided into hostile groups, because we cannot find a basis for unity in human nature; a society where, increasingly, truth is deliberately hidden and controlled, by elites who find certain results most acceptable and fair; a society where to say that males are males and females are females is regarded as aggressively unjust; a society where the right to religious liberty seems increasingly unintelligible; a society which seems ready to forfeit the natural right to liberty and accept, instead, that it is more 'reasonable' if citizens first get permission of their rulers to move about."

Read the full essay here.